Final Fantasy Revolutions VIII
by E.S.Wesely
Summary: A year after the defeat of Ultimecia, the world is bustling with activity. The rise of SeeD, sorcery, and the return of the Galbadian Empire...


Final Fantasy Revolutions VIII

Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasies or any of its characters or ideas; ©SquareEnix. I do own the ideas of this story and any new character's or names not previously heard of. I do not own Forest Gump © Paramount Pictures. I also do not own Pirate's of the Caribbean, © Disney. If something sound's familiar but was not in the game or listed above, there's a 75 chance it's mine.

Insane Words of Wisdom (IWW): This first chapter has a lot of info... bear in mind that this is no simple fic, being the first one I post I figured it would be really good, it will be very detailed, if I get lost in it like Tolkien, I'm sorry. Wait, Tolkien's awesome, I'm not sorry at all! Anyways, hope you enjoy it! R/R Please!

Dedicated to all the FF Fans and the ones whom characteristics I've added into the fic, you know who you are.

_Chapter I: The Rise of the Many_

"HA! You'll never beat me Squall." Seifer yelled as he steadied his gunblade, "Your swordsmanship could never beat my sheer power!"

"What are you talking about? This is just training, relax!" exclaimed Squall as he fell into position ready to guard and counter.

Seifer sliced the air in protest, "Fine, lets see if you can handle this!" He shouted as he charged Squall. Squall quickly raised his blade to block and immediately swinging matching steel as sparks lit up the night sky. They continued to fight on the cliff high above the ground as the clashing of their gunblades echoed through the vast canyon of black mist. They fought on, entranced in their own rage and stubbornness, both refusing to give in to the other.

Squall was warmed up now. He was aggravated and wanted to end this meaningless battle. He deflected another blow as he centered his adrenaline for the assault. He threw attack after attack creating an impenetrable chain as he pushed Seifer to the edge of the cliff overlooking the bottomless chasm. Just as Squall was about to deliver the final blow, Seifer raised his hand and cast his Fire Cross throwing Squall to the ground.

Squall sat up as the fire and embers burned through his leather jacket. He grabbed his gunblade and rose to his knees but Seifer was there. He lifted his gunblade and sliced it across Squall's face cutting from the middle of his forehead to the left side of his nose. Squall touched the cut to see the blood oozing down his face.

"You son of a bitch," Squall was pissed. No one messes up his leather jacket. He rose to a crouched position, gripped his gunblade and rushed Seifer performing an upper-cut Rough Divide sword technique. As he did so his gunblade sliced along Seifer's face knocking him back. He flew into a boulder on the ledge rendering him unconscious.

Squall fell to his knees with exhaustion. He looked around at what was left of the battle area. There were embers on the ground from the fire. Metal shavings were blowing into the wind. He looked to his right and at the end of the platform was three of the Garden Master Faculty was standing perfectly still and calm. "Squall, Squall..."

"Squall, Squall, get up!" came a very feminine voice as the florescent light enveloped the darkness. "You know, just 'cause you saved the world doesn't mean you can sleep all day! Come on, it's almost noon already!"

Squall rolled over and opened his eyes to see her standing over him with an annoyed smile on her face. He yawned as he sat up rubbing the scar across his face. "Sorry Anamia," he sighed rubbing his scar attentively, "I haven't been able to sleep. These dreams have been keeping me awake." He looked at the wall on the other side of his dorm room. The two gunblades hung in an X pattern. His pale blue Lion Heart revolver-blade and Seifer's silver automatic pistol-blade model hung in an ominous state of power. "Why do I keep having this dream?" he thought, "That happened over a year ago. Who are those garden guys? I don't remember them being there; shouldn't they have stopped the fight?"

Anamia sat down next to Squall. Her dark red hair went down to her shoulders hugging her soft pale skinned face. She smiled kindly at him, her brown eyes sparkling in the mid-day sun reflecting through the window above Squall's bed. "Is it that same dream?" she asked concerned for him. He nodded as he looked into her eyes to forget the nightmare. "Maybe you should ask Ellone about it? She's given you dream's about the past before. Do you know where she is?" Squall was in deep thought, "Squall?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, she's a teacher at the SSS," he said as he snapped back to reality.

"S'what?" she asked confused, "I don't think I've heard of that is it some new school or something?"

"Yeah...it stands for Sonya's School of Sorcery. Sonya's the girl that inherited Ultimecia's powers. She started a sub-division of SeeD to teach the willing how to perform magic without the help of GF Para-magic. Ellone, Edea and Rinoa helped her get started and teach. It's located in the Southern Islands on the beach front east of 'The Forest of Solitude' Chocobo Forest." Squall stood up and threw his arms out as he stretched. Anamia watched her shirtless friend as she admired his build and took the opportunity to leave.

"Well, I have to get going...you could try to get something from Dr. Kadowaki for something to help you sleep. Shall I tell Nida to set course for SSS?" She asked leaning in the doorway in half turn.

"No, that won't be necessary. I'll call NRAT when I get to the bridge." Anamia frowned confused, "You don't get out much do you? It's the New Ragnarok Air Team. It includes my friends: Quistis, Irvine, and Selphie. I haven't seen them in awhile, and besides the ship is really fun to fly in. Oh, please inform the group of 'Trepies' that Quistis is on her way and make sure your ready to go on a two day trip. Make sure you're armed in case trouble arises." Anamia looked shocked, "You will accompany me won't you?" She smiled and winked at him as she went to fulfill her duties. Squall grinned as he watched her go down the Dormitory hall.

"Ah," he sighed as he put on his regular black cloths with twin red belts. He walked to the gunblades and sheathed them both on his waist. He yawned and stretched and walked down the hall.

"Hey Squall, we need to talk to you, ya know," came Raijin's voice as he walked past the library. Squall turned to see him and Fujin walking from the library with an urgent look in their eyes. Raijin, the regular stereotypical brawn, no brains quarter-staff wielding guy and his accomplice, the women everyone's afraid of, an expert with a ninja star, Fujin. Together they make up the notorious "Disciplinary Committee."

"Well, what is it?" annoyed that they were bothering them. He had more important matters to attend to and didn't have time for the meager problems of the two of them.

"HELP," Fujin exclaimed. The patch on her eye twitched slightly as she raised her eyebrows. She starred pleadingly at Squall.

"It hasn't been the same since Seifer went..."under" ya know?" sighed Raijin as the two of them lowered there heads in respect, "We're just not the disciplinary committee without him, ya know?" He was getting at something but taking quite a while to do so.

"Ya know, Ah!" Squall shouted stopping himself from talking like Raijin. "There are many other things to do here in Balamb Garden; you just have to pick something. You could be Librarians, join the Garden Committee, or even work in the cafete-"

"NO," Fujin said interrupting Squall. She angrily kicked Raijin in the shin. "TELL!" she demanded watching Raijin grab his leg jumping up and down in pain.

"We'd like to get out of Balamb, ya know?" he said rubbing his leg and regaining his posture. "We need a new environment to readjust without Seifer here, ya know?"

Squall was getting tired of them, "Listen if you need to transfer or drop out you need to tal-"

"NO," she interrupted again. "TELL!" she yelled kicking Raijin again.

"Ow, ow, ow, alright!" he said jumping up and down once again. "We'd like to help out at SSS, ya know? We were wondering if you could, ya know, pull some strings, ya know?"

Squall looked curiously at them. "Why were they so concerned to ask me..." he thought. He shrugged, "Um, you two come with me and NRAT, we're going there by the end of the day." Squall thought for a moment knowing it wouldn't be a good idea, "Let the administrators get to know you and then Rinoa, Sonja, Edea, Ellone, Cid, and I will make the decision. Now if you'll excuse me..." Squall walked away hurriedly as he was already really late. He decided he would quickly stop by the infirmary for some sleeping pills and pain killers, the two of them had given them a headache. He walked in to find Xu sitting in the chair.

"Squall, how can I help you?" asked Dr. Kadowaki as she checked Xu's pulse. "I'm just performing some regular check-ups."

"Yeah, I just need some sleeping pills and a dose of pain killers for a headache" explained Squall trying to keep the conversation short. The doctor continued the check-up by testing Xu's reflexes. "I'm in a hurry doctor," Squall lied, "if you could help me out so I can be on my way."

"Having trouble sleeping Squall?" Xu asked trying to strike up a conversation. Just what he was trying to avoid.

"Well Squall," Dr. Kadowaki sighed as he got a bottle from a large mirrored cabinet and handed them to Squall, "the painkillers are no problem, here you go. The sleeping pills though; I need some kind of diagnosis that proves you need them. What is the reason for your insomnia?" She asked as she sat in the chair next to Xu resting her chin in her hand.

"Well you see I keep having this dream where I relive what happened the night that Seifer gave me this scar." He explained running his hand along where the blade sliced his face, "I don't wish to have this dream so it keeps me up at night..."

Xu and Dr. Kadowaki looked upon Squall with concern; the dark, quiet man that they all know was talking freely and besides a slight distraught, was, "happy." "You should go see Ellone, Squall. Isn't she the one who gave you dreams in the past?"

Xu asked unawares. "You should fly over to SSS." Squall sighed, annoyed at the slow pace news traveled in the Garden.

"Way ahead of you, Xu, I was going to call NRAT as soon as I left." Squall said as he took the pills from Dr. Kadowaki. "Thank you, doctor, now if you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to." Squall immediately got up and made his way to the bridge while humming a little prelude that sounds way too familiar. He stopped a moment at the end of the hall as Nida walked by, "Hmm, the words, 'here turtle, turtle' just popped into my mind. Nida, does the name Edgar have any meaning to you?" He asked curiously. She paused and pondered on it a moment then shrugged and walked on mumbling something about girls and sand...

Back in the infirmary, Xu and Dr. Kadowaki were discussing there new found leader. "He seemed a lot more cheerful today." Xu said in bewilderment, "he was so open and I think he actually smiled." They laughed at the thought as Nida walked in the door. "He hasn't been this happy or talkative since," in a whispered voice, "Rinoa left" Dr. Kadowaki nodded silently as she signaled Nida to join them.

"Nida, have you noticed the change in Squall over the past few days?" asked the doctor as she began to check Nida's vitals, "change in mood or language?"

"Well," she contemplated as the Dr. checked her heart, "he has once again started to talk and have actual conversations, and just now he was humming some tune..." she stopped short in thought. "Come to think of it, the change occurred the same time he met this girl Anamia. She's an upper classman; she'll become a SeeD if she passes the next field exam. She's a very pretty girl if you ask me, it's no wonder he's been acting strange. They've been walking around together like 'peas and carrots,' err, yeah, that's it."

"Hmm, very interesting so it is a girl," Dr. Kadowaki said as she contemplated the thought of Squall and this girl. "We will have to have a chat with Quistis; she knows Squall's psychology better than any of us, we'll see if she knows anything."

Squall had finally made it to the elevator when the "Trepies" stopped him. "So is it true?" the three asked in unison, "is Instructor Trepe coming back?" They stood there with widened eyes and hopeful hearts.

Squall sighed wondering why they were so fond of her, "Yes, the NRAT should be arriving about 20 minutes after I call, which I was going to do right now. Keep in mind that this is a short trip that we will be leaving as soon as preparations are made. I can let you three come with us on the condition that you're ready to go before they get here and you promise to stay out of the way?" They all nodded quickly and smiled at him as he ascended to the bridge.

Headmaster Cid was sitting down in a chair below the bridge in a deep thought. "Good-morning, Squall, Anamia is waiting above." He said quickly as he returned to his day-dream. Squall nodded as he continued up the platform.

"Well, I'm awake now!" He said as he started up the comm. system and put in the code for the NRAT satellite hail. "Bzzz...bzzz...this is Squall, of the Balamb Garden calling New Ragnarok, I repeat Balamb Garden calling New Ragnarok, over."

The static coming through made it difficult to interpret, "bzzz...This is NR..., we hear you loud and cl..., Squall, this ... Irvine, over...bzzz."

"Reception poor on my side, request permission to use the ship, need a fast ship with plenty of cargo room," Squall said trying to readjust the broadcast wavelength; "if you're not busy it would be a great help." As he finished he perfected the wavelength to reach optimum reception. "Ok, I can hear you now, go ahead, over."

"That's affirmative, Squall, we have begun entering atmosphere. We'll be down to the stratosphere, above Obel Lake north of Timber, in approximately 15 minutes. Prepare hanger for docking by 1500, over." Irvine replied trying to sound sophisticated over the radio transmission to match Squall's ability to communicate without visual.

"10-4," Squall said as he cut the connection to the spaceship, "So Anamia, you packed and all set for travel by sky?" She nodded closing her eyes, with her head in the clouds with some other distant thought. "I meant to ask you before, what is your weapon of choice anyways?" she didn't respond still reflecting on some matter, "Anamia?" he asked again.

"Huh, oh sorry, Squall, my weapon?" she asked repeating the question, "I use a Morning Star." She said still half in a daze.

"What's on your mind?" he asked looking concerned at the depth she was putting into this thought, "You know a SeeD can never lose their focus when on a mission. You should learn to put your personal problems on hold until the mission is complete or you are given time off." She came back to reality immediately and started typing into a control panel. "Care to join me at the hanger, Anamia?" he asked with intrigue about this new deeper side of her. She nodded and stood up as Squall hit the switch for the intercom, "DONG, DING, DO" Went the bell, "attention, all those set to work in the hanger report there now to begin prep for the landing of the New Ragnarok spaceship. Do so now, thank you."

Squall and Anamia then began to walk down to the hanger, side by side. The newly built hanger was merely a landing pad off the balcony in the Quad. When they entered the prep crew was already there. SeeD and students alike were moving giant magnetic clamps, jet fuel was being pumped up to feed into the ship, supplies where brought up for not only the trip but to restock the ship for trips into outer space and global SeeD missions.

"Sir," said the man on his left, "Preparations are almost complete E.T.A. to landing: 2½ minutes.

"Thank you Lee," he sighed remembering the boy that used to run around the circular path in the middle of the garden. The same boy that now stands in front of him, "Please, how many time do I have to tell you, don't call me sir."

"Sorry, Sir!" he apologized, "I mean, I'm sorry, Squall" He immediately ran off to help someone carrying a large load of machine gun rounds for the enormous twin guns of the New Ragnarok defense systems.

Before any thing else was said the giant shadow pushed the air in a large vacuum of dust as the ship began to land. Squall waved his hand violently to get the crew's attention, "Clear the area, now!" he shouted as he shielded his eyes from the dust. "What did you do to my ship!?" he asked confounded at the New Ragnarok's new paint job.

"I rather like it!" Said a man stepping out of the ship as the dust cleared, "the black makes it look more melancholy and masculine. I did leave the outline of the rockets red to give it good aura." Squall looked before him to see a tall man, in his early thirties. He had blonde hair spiked and gelled at an inch high mostly covered by pilot glasses. He was clean shaven with long sideburns. He was wearing black pants and a leather jacket covering a white under-shirt. He leaned on his spear as he puffed on a small half smoked cigarette in the side of his mouth, "hey, name's Cid, I have taken over as captain since you left to come back here." He said ignorantly, "I've heard all about you Squall, nice to finally meet you. Well..." He stopped and walked away turning to a man loading an unmanned recon drone. He was waving his hands shouting some order over the noise of machines and workers.

Squall surveyed the area for a moment then realizing all loading and docking procedures were being followed he left to go find some lunch. Anamia followed him silently, "Well, he sure is an interesting character," he thought aloud, "not a lot to say, gets to the point and leaves, to each his own I guess..." He stopped as he heard a girl scream from back in the direction of the hanger, "That sounded like Selphie!" he said turning around to see Quistis and Cid chasing a giant defense droid coming his way.

"Squall! Stop it, it's out of control!" Quistis said as they got closer. The machine was known as the X-ATM-093/B. Built in the resemblance of a spider, it was equipped with many guns and blade arms. Squall jumped into action, moving Anamia out of the way, he stood prepared to block the robot.

"No, you idiot, its armed knock it down before it kills you!" Cid yelled readying his spear for a throw. Squall immediately drew his gunblades and raised his guard just as its arm sliced in front of him. He tried to hold the arm back but after a minute of struggle it overpowered him. He jumped back as Quistis distracted its attention with the crack of her whip. The electronic monster turned to slash at her but Cid jumped in to stop it. He used his spear as a pole vault and jumped up onto the top of it. He hauled up his spear and rammed it into the robots head. The robot shook left and right throwing Cid against a wall. Squall jumped back as the machine stumbled forward. With swords in hand he rush towards him deflecting blades to his left and right trying to get to his main body and circuits. Though as he got closer the metallic spider kicked out and knocked Squall to the ground.

"Yaw Hoo! Time to kick some robot ass!" Zell yelled riding in on a T-board. He skated straight into the machine as he jumped on top of it. He landed on Cid's spear kicking it, forcing it through the robot. He continued to pummel it using his strong metal gauntlets. As if timing what he was doing he immediately jumped as the T-board crashed into the robot with a large explosion. Zell flipped through the air and landed next to Squall as he got up recovering from the blast.

Cid got up and went over to the wreckage of what was left of the X-ATM-093/B and pulled his spear out. He turned to Zell grabbing his side, it seemed he had some broken ribs, "You stupid son-of-a-bitch!" he yelled examining his spear, "you've ruined it, do you know how hard it is to sharpen this not to mention the rarity of the steel!" Zell shrugged helping Squall up.

"Professor Dincht!" called the three most notorious girls on the Garden premises. Three very ditsy girls walked up to him very excited. As the first one approached he smiled. "Sandi," he said politely. Sandi smiled back as she slapped him across the face as she walked away. The other two followed suit and ran away giggling. "Not sure I deserved that..." he pondered aloud to Squall.

Squall ignored his new antics, "Isn't Irvine the ladies man?" he thought looking at Zell who was watching the girls walk away with a big smile on his face. "So Zell, weren't you on vacation? I thought you went fishing with the mayor of Fisherman's Horizon?

"Oh yeah," he said attentively, "well it got to the point I couldn't stand that peace lovin' hippie. Fishing's fun but I'd prefer a T-Board any day!" He looked at the wreckage to find what was left of the hover. When he found it, it was still in pretty good condition he held it up just as a member of the Garden Faculty walked up behind him.

"T-Board's aren't aloud on the Garden premises! I'll have to confiscate that." Said the Faculty member as he took it and walked away.

"Hey!" yelled Zell chasing after him, "I saved all you asses with that now give it back you stupid NORG lover!!!" Squall sighed remembering the time that the whole Garden was separated due to NORG, the Garden Master. He yawned loudly and started towards the dormitories as Irvine and Selphie came out of the hanger.

"Hey Squall" yelled Irvine who was helping Selphie walk who had obviously sprained her ankle, again, Squall ran over and helped him take her to the infirmary. "Sorry I couldn't shoot that thing down, Selphie was hurt and all. You know how ladies like to be cared for when they're injured.

"Don't mention it," he said as he left realizing how tired he was. He got half way to the dorms when his ears started ringing extremely loud; "Ah!" he yelled in pain as he fell to the ground.

"Squall!" screamed Anamia who saw him fall, "Squall what's wrong?" she rolled him over and checked his pulse, it was a little high but he was fine. "You're going to sleep at a time like this? Great I guess I'll go announce that we won't be leaving till tomorrow. Have fun in the dream world, good-night Squall."

IWW: That's all folks; join us next time to find out why Squall's dreaming, who the mysterious Sonya is, what's up with the Garden Faculty, and what Galbadia has been up to.

-This wasn't supposed to turn out this way but the more I typed the more it changed. I like it, hope you do too. R/R –Peace Out


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